This invention relates in general to a training accessory for use with pool or billiard tables to improve a players skill and, in particular, to a lightweight portable device that may be placed on the table playing surface to teach a player or to increase a player's skills in shooting angle or "bank" shots.
More specifically, but without restriction to the particular use which is shown and described as a preferred embodiment, this invention relates to a teaching or training aid positionable upon the playing surface of a table, but out of interference with the contact surface of the cushion which surrounds the playing surface to enable the user to train and practice banking a ball into the cushion and rebounding the ball in a desired manner in order to strike another ball or move into a particular desired position.
One of the aspects of playing the game of billiards or pool is the banking of a ball from a table cushion so that the ball will rebound in a particular manner to accomplish a desired purpose. That purpose may be to strike another ball to move the struck ball into a pocket, or to move the struck ball and cue ball into particular locations. One of the more difficult skills required in these games, is the ability to hit a ball against the rebounding cushion so that the ball will strike another ball in a particular manner to achieve these purposes.
While it is known that the angle of incidence will equal the angle of rebound, the implementation of this theory into actual practice requires a skillful hand, a practiced eye and a lot of practice. There is no substitute for developing this skill if one is to be a successful billiards player. The knowledge of angles required to properly perfect such a shot is only developed through much practice. Even though the angle of incidence is supposed to equal the angle of rebound, when a ball is directed to the cushion edge at a point at which the acute angle of an imaginary line between the center of the ball and the point of impact on the cushion is equal to the acute angle of an imaginary line between the desired impact point or end destination of that ball and the same point on the rebounding cushion, it sometimes appears that the laws of physics do not exist on a pool table.
The reason such a "lines eye" view is not totally accurate, is that the rebound cushion is not an incompressible material. The rebound cushion is generally made of felt, covering an elastomeric material such as rubber, which is compressed when the ball strikes the rebound cushion and returned to its precompressed configuration when the ball is deflected from the theoretical bank line. The actual deflection from the theoretical bank line is affected by the speed of the ball when it hits and compresses the cushion, and the spin on the ball which will cause the ball to move laterally along the felt material covering the rebound cushion during the compressing and rebounding contact. The amount of deflection is also affected by the speed of the spin, and the direction of the spin on the ball. Therefore, while in theory the ball should rebound from the cushion at the same angle that the ball strikes the cushion, in practice this does not happen. It is only through training and practice that the skill required for a successful bank shot is perfected.
While various devices have been developed in order to practice the development of this skill, such as those patented devices located in a pre-examination search conducted before the filing of the application for this patent, and disclosed on the Information Statement submitted by the inventor with the filing of this application, such devices appear to be cumbersome in use, complicated to set up, expensive, or do not give a true and accurate simulation of a bank shot during play.